The War Wagon... decaring wars on the grocery store since 1966

[68scott385]

Well that what we(I) want to see, the new shiny stuff.

[Scott Liggett]

Just drop it in from the top. Just don't touch the battery cable on the starter. BZZZZZZTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!

[Shelty]

passenger side manifold is on, as is the new passenger side valve cover gasket. the car was leaking from the valve covers bad, part of the reason the engine has so much goop on it. I have to tighten down the driver side, tighten the motor mount I loosened on the driver side, install the new plug wires, driver side valve cover gasket, and adjust the trans cooler lines.

Im also fabricating a bracket from some old bracket I found in my garage for the alternator bracket. I also found a bolt that will perfectly fit with a nut from the jar of bolts I have. Like all old chevys with the rams horn log headers, the alternator bolted into the driver side head. I am making the piece to triangulate the lower alternator bracket and sturdy it up by bolting it to the boss in the head. total cost ~free minus a bolt I need to buy probably.

only a few things right? lol

here are some pictures.

busted up passenger manifold, my drill wouldnt fit sideways to drill out the bolts, so I just drilled straight down and bisected the bolts. as a result, I broke the chunks of the manifold off as the cast iron cracked.

looks crazy, but it worked, didnt damage the head and its not like these were going to be reused or sold anyway




bracket im fabricating. the silver dot is where I need to drill another hole, and I will trim off the area near the silver line where it curves.


driver side header. Im leaving the shields on, they look silly, but it should help keep the boots from melting


passenger side, ignore the wires, they will be cleaned up

[Scott Liggett]

Hey, they are in!! Sorry to hear you had to butcher your old manifolds to get them out. That sucks. I never had much trouble with the headers once I had them installed. My car had rusty old headers when I bought the car. I am now on the fourth set. Those Hedmans fit the best.

[TheSilverBuick]

You did a number on that manifold! Dang! I bet you can break a bowling ball in a sand box

[Shelty]

thanks man, im not worried that I had to butcher the old manifolds, i was going to junk them anyway, no real resale for them with the condition they were in.

the hedmans fit great. they clear everything. Except I have to adjust the cooler lines, maybe a half inch of clearance between them and the collector. not the headers fault, its the way the lines are bent. wouldnt take much to fix that.

passenger side slid right in no prob.

[RustyRodder]

Very nice!!! I'll bet you feel a power difference with these compared to the manifolds with clogged pipes.

[68scott385]

PICTURES!!

[Shelty]

Very nice!!! I'll bet you feel a power difference with these compared to the manifolds with clogged pipes.

I bet I will, plus I am going to be going with a 2.5 inch exhaust vs the original 2 inch tubes. the old pipes really were not that clogged, but with all the sharp bends and points where it necked down for no reason, i guarantee it was far from efficient.

[DanStokes]

I'm glad you worked this thru. For me, every time I open the hood after a fight like this I know what I've conquered and feel good about my results - bet you will, too. People forget how brittle cast iron is, especially after a few million heat cycles, so the often don't think about forcefully removing the offending components.

BTW - if your home brew bracket doesn't work out I'm pretty sure that there are commercially available brackets specifically for this situation.

GOOD JOB!

Dan

[convss]

Nice job!! Been following this thread with interest, since I had a 1966 caprice wagon a few years ago, and had to sell it to be able to afford to rebuild the engine in my chevelle. Mine had a 396/turbo400, A/C, power windows, etc. I'm kind of a big block fanatic, but my feeling is that the 327 was one of the best engines chevy ever built! Had one in my first 68 chevelle back in the 70's and it was awesome! your 700R4 upgrade is an excellent choice! I'm putting one behind a 468 I'm putting in my 1968 chevy C20.

[Deaf Bob]

The main bracket on my 57 goes over the header tube.. It is supposed to take regular flat headed bolts, not the beveled header bolts, The 327 heads I got do not have bolt holes on the ends.

[Shelty]

the heads on my 327 have bolt holes on the ends of the heads, not sure if this is an indication of a later set of heads on it or a later engine all together, when I had the pass side valve cover off, I saw some numbers cast into the head, as well as "Hecho en Mexico" dont know if that means anything. when I do the driver's side seal, I'll record any numbers I find.

[Deaf Bob]

Newer heads most likely.. 305 probably. But could be 350's

[RustyRodder]

well if it is a 305, that explains a lot